First hand
information off people who either worked with the Me262, or indeed, flew
against the machine in combat, are very rare. As the years advance, and
surviving members of the bloodiest conflict slowly dwindle, it is good
to come across this nice first-hand article from a man who indeed met
the Stormbird in armed combat, Wing Commander P.B.`Laddie`Lucas
CBE,DSO,DFC

Wing Commander
PB`Laddie`Lucas

This article is
sourced from Mr. Brian
Cauchiof Malta who struck a friendship with
the late Wing Commander P.B. 'Laddie' Lucas who
sadly passed away early last year, in 1998. Brian & Mr. Lucas
were in regular contact and often exchanged letters with each
other concerning the Wing Commanders war years. During the war, he
commanded the famous top scoring249Sqdn.
based in Malta. He was here at the height of the battle
during the worst time, i.e. the summer of 1942 when Malta was
being incessantly pounded day and night by the Italians and the
Luftwaffe.

He was
a very helpful person and used to provide Brian with a lot of
information. After Malta, he took over a mosquito squadron
and that is when he encountered the 262. It is a very short
paragraph of the letter but nevertheless it is a genuine first
hand experience. He mentioned this incident because at the
time, Brian was building Me262 models and had told him
about them. Of particular interest is his reference to the
262's speed which he describes as excessive when he was himself
flying the mosquito, the fastest piston engined aircraft of its
time.